Sharon High boys basketball team wins Davenport Classic, runs win streak to six in a row

The Sharon High boys basketball team closed the regular season with a 70-44 victory over Canton on Wednesday night at Sharon High to finish the season on a six-game winning streak and a 13-7 overall record heading into the state tournament.

By Yoni Monat / Special to the Advocate

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Yoni Monat / Special to the Advocate

Posted Feb. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 21, 2013 at 9:04 PM

By Yoni Monat / Special to the Advocate

Posted Feb. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 21, 2013 at 9:04 PM

SHARON

» Social News

The Sharon High boys basketball team won the Davenport Classic by downing Braintree 59-50 on Monday night at Sharon High.

“It’s really good to win the Davenport Classic for the first time in many [eight] years,” said junior guard James Fritzson, who was named the tournament’s MVP. “Braintree is a Div. 1 team, so it was good to play them tough and get that win.”

“When you hold a team like Braintree to 50 points, obviously it took a lot of effort defensively,” said Jackman. “[Senior captain Kevin] Bartas, [junior guard Brian] Mukasa, [senior captain Ian] Beach, [senior] Brian Lawrence played very well. I think they all did a very good job defensively.”

A season-high four Eagles scored in double-figures. Fritzson and Mukasa paced Sharon with 15 points apiece, while Bartas and Lawrence posted 13 and 10, respectively.

“Consistency offensively from Fritzson, Mukasa, Bartas – it was good,” said Jackman. “Braintree couldn’t key on any one individual, although they did a decent job of slowing down Jimmy and Brian, but overall, we did a really solid job.”

The Wamps’ press was largely ineffective against Mukasa and Fritzson. Braintree stayed with Sharon all game and kept the Eagles’ lead to within 10 points but never led after the opening minutes.

On Sunday night, Sharon opened the tournament by downing Lincoln-Sudbury 63-55.

Along with Fritzson taking MVP honors, Bartas, who recorded a double-double (10 points, 11 rebounds) against the Warriors, represented Sharon on the All Tournament team. Braintree senior captain Shawn Murphy (15 points) was the Wamps’ selection.

“[Fritzson] had a great night [Sunday] night and he played very solidly [Monday] night, so obviously, he deserved that [MVP] award,” said Jackman. “It’s been a long time. To put on this tournament and sponsor it, with Sharon Credit Union, it was nice to finally win one.”

Sharon closed the regular season with a 70-44 victory over Canton on Wednesday night at Sharon High to finish the season on a six-game winning streak and a 13-7 overall record. The win may give the Eagles a chance to host a state tournament game when the pairings are announced on Friday.

The Eagles dominated from the opening tap and led the Bulldogs 16-5 at the end of the first quarter. Fritzson continued his stretch of hot three-point shooting, leading the Eagles with 17 points.

Sharon maintained a 20-plus point lead for the majority of the game, allowing starters to rest for much of the fourth quarter.

“It was great to see everybody getting involved, getting minutes,” Beach said. “Finally, we got an easy one; we have a habit of making them closer than they should be. But tonight was good.”

Page 2 of 2 - Sharon will have nearly a week off before opening the Division 2 tournament with pairings set to come out on Friday.

Last Friday night, Sharon rode a wave of momentum from the preceding Sharon High football championship celebration and Senior Night at Eagle Gymnasium into a 60-56 Davenport Division victory over Milford. It was the Scarlet Hawks’ first loss in the Davenport and officially clinched a state tournament berth for the Eagles.

“The amount of energy expended on that court [Friday] was ridiculous,” said senior forward Toby Modebelu. “It started with the pregame ceremonies - the [Super Bowl] rings and then the Senior Night – and then a tough game with Milford, who is one of the top teams in the Hock.”

“It was great,” said Bartas. “On Senior Night, after the football introduction, in front of a huge crowd that got pretty rowdy, we just did our thing. It was awesome.”

Sharon quickly imposed its will on Milford. The Eagles’ swarming defense recorded 14 steals and their offense consistently found the open man and attacked the hoop aggressively.

Fritzson scored a game-high 21 points and buried four 3-pointers to stake the Eagles to a 13-point halftime lead.

David Mercier and junior Christopher Brown each scored six points for the Scarlet Hawks in the third quarter as Milford cut into Sharon’s lead. Milford stayed close in the fourth but Mukasa (16 points) sank four free throws with under a minute remaining to seal Sharon’s victory.

“We gave them a good game the first time, but we just ran out of gas [in losing, 58-43],” said Jackman. “[Friday] we were able to sustain our momentum.

“Good contributions from everybody who went onto the court. [Junior guard] Ade [Bright] played well again – didn’t score many points, but handled the ball very well, did a good job on defense. It’s contagious; when one person plays well, it catches over to everybody.”

“Man, football felt great, and this also feels great,” said Modebelu. “It’d be a great end our senior year – making a deep run in the playoffs, and hopefully getting to the Garden.”